The Fantastic Little Farmer

Chapter 18: Chapter 18: I’m Telling the Truth

”Please wait a moment.” The waitress went over to check with a man who looked like the boss.

Zhang Yun stood there awkwardly. This place was called ”Rich Man’s Restaurant,” but it couldn’t compare to restaurants in the big cities. The ground-floor lobby only had a few tables; the private rooms must be upstairs.

If he ate alone down here, the classmates arriving later would definitely see him!

Zhang Yun wanted to leave, but then he saw Gao Dajin and Liu Yu walking in...

”Damn it, I’ll just sit here and eat by myself,” he thought. ”I haven’t stolen or cheated anyone. So what if it’s just a quick working meal?”

”Are there no seats left? Let’s eat together!”

”Yeah! The others have already arrived. You should at least come up and sit for a bit, right?”

Zhang Yun waved his hand, too lazy to explain. Naturally, the two of them didn’t insist and headed straight upstairs.

”Sorry to keep you waiting. It’s been confirmed. Please follow me,” the waitress said, hurrying back.

Zhang Yun noticed she was leading him upstairs and muttered inwardly. Weren’t those the private rooms up there? Having never eaten here before, he didn’t know the layout, so he just followed her up.

”Oh! Look who finally showed up!”

”I told you Zhang Yun wouldn’t put on such airs and insist we all beg him to come!”

”Over here, over here!”

As soon as they reached the second floor, Zhang Yun saw an open private room where several classmates started calling out to him.

Since he was already upstairs, it was too late to back out. Zhang Yun smiled bitterly to himself. He had been prepared to brave their stares in the lobby, but now they had bumped right into each other!

”Are you... with them?” The waitress thought this seemed much more like Zhang Yun’s intended destination.

”No,” Zhang Yun replied in a low voice.

Saying that, he walked over to the private room and greeted the group, saying hello to everyone from the doorway.

”Hello!” Chen Hui was actually here. After a few years, she had grown even more beautiful.

Yang Bo sat inside without moving. ”I just heard you were here,” he said with a smile. ”I was just about to go down and invite you!”

”Invite my ass,” Zhang Yun thought. ”You clearly didn’t even want to move!”

Aloud, he chuckled and said, ”Haha, you guys go ahead and catch up. I’ll eat separately first!”

The waitress didn’t dare ask any more questions and led Zhang Yun further down the hall.

”Hey! Did he... really go inside?”

”Wasn’t he just coming up to say hi?”

”He really just said hello and left...”

Everyone looked at each other in dismay. If Zhang Yun had just said hi or joined them for a meal, no one would have minded much. But walking right past them to go into a private room further inside truly piqued their curiosity.

”Do you think... Zhang Yun booked a private room all for himself just to save face?”

”Probably not, right? If he was really that embarrassed, he would’ve just gone somewhere else. Private rooms have a minimum spend limit.”

Zhang Yun could still hear their chatter as he entered his room, right up until the waitress closed the door.

”Dean Zhang reserved a table. Should we start serving the dishes now, or wait for the other guests to arrive?”

Zhang Yun finally understood why she had asked if he was ”alone.” It turned out Old Zhang had booked a private room and ordered a whole table of food!

”The others aren’t available, so it’s just me. Start serving, and make it quick!”

”Um...”

”Did he not pay?” Seeing her hesitate, Zhang Yun decided to clear that up first.

”No, no, Dean Zhang just needs to sign the bill. I just meant it’s quite a lot of food... I’ll go notify the kitchen to start serving!”

A private room and a whole table of food? Old Zhang didn’t seem like such a generous person.

After mulling it over for a moment, Zhang Yun figured it out. Zhang Lifeng had probably wanted to use him to invite Ouyang Kunpeng to dinner, which was why he had booked a table for a group. But since Zhang Yun had come out alone, the old man had lost his appetite and didn’t bother showing up.

The door was pushed open, and a crisp voice rang out. ”Zhang Yun...”

”Chen Hui, long time no see.” Recognizing the visitor, Zhang Yun greeted her.

”Yeah, it really has been a long time.” Chen Hui peeked inside the room and probed, ”Do you have other friends coming?”

”There were supposed to be a few, but it seems they’re busy, so now it’s just me.” Zhang Yun was telling the truth, but even to his own ears, it sounded like bragging.

Chen Hui didn’t call his bluff. Instead, she tried to persuade him, ”Why don’t you cancel this room and join us? We’re all classmates, it’ll be more lively.”

Zhang Yun politely declined. ”Haha, I’m not really used to lively crowds. I’m most silent in a crowd, and even my smiles feel lonely. I’d better just channel An Jing and eat my meal!”

”...” Chen Hui felt helpless and could only put it bluntly. ”Private rooms have a minimum spend limit. It’s not worth it for just one person. We’re all old classmates who go way back; there’s no need to put on a front like this.”

”Thanks, but I don’t need to foot the bill. I’m an invited guest,” Zhang Yun said truthfully.

Chen Hui frowned. ”Why are you being so stubborn about your pride? Are you allergic to money? Gao Dajin and Liu Yu invited you, everyone else called out to you just now, and now I’m here inviting you again, and you’re still not giving us face? Do you need Yang Bo to personally come and invite you?”

Zhang Yun smiled awkwardly. ”It’s not that. Everything I said is the truth.”

”You...” Chen Hui hesitated, swallowing her words.

Zhang Yun continued, ”Then I’ll just be blunt. I don’t have much to catch up on with them anyway, and if there are too many people, I’d have to put on fake smiles. Eating a whole table of food by myself is obviously much more comfortable...”

Chen Hui interrupted him. ”Let’s not talk about that. They said you came from the hospital. You... you’re okay, right?”

Zhang Yun was slightly surprised. When he had spoken to Gao Dajin and Liu Yu face-to-face, they hadn’t asked about this. He didn’t expect Chen Hui to come over specifically out of concern after hearing it secondhand.

”I’m very touched. It really warms my heart! But I’m fine. I was just visiting a patient, not even a relative or friend.”

Seeing him keep her at arm’s length, Chen Hui felt a bit disappointed. She didn’t say anything more and excused herself.

The waitress soon came in to brew tea. The meal Dean Zhang had pre-ordered was already prepared, so the dishes were served very quickly.

Zhang Yun dug in, eagerly savoring every dish. Whatever was especially good, he could pack up and take home to share with his dad.

Halfway through his meal, the private room door was pushed open. Yang Bo led a group of classmates inside.

”Old classmate, you didn’t give us face, but we’re here to give you face...

”Holy crap! Are you really eating a whole table of food by yourself? Can you even finish all this?”

They had timed their arrival with the food being served, but they never expected to see seven or eight dishes! They had ordered about the same amount of food for their own room, and barely half of it had been served yet.

”Do you guys... want to have a bite?” Zhang Yun felt helpless and offered a reluctant invitation. He had been planning to pack the leftovers for his old man. If these outsiders dug in, he wouldn’t be able to take them home.

”No thanks... our food is being served too.” Yang Bo took a closer look. Not only were there a lot of dishes, but they were all the expensive signature dishes of Fugui Restaurant. This spread was even more lavish than what he had ordered...

Seeing this clearly, the others fell silent. They had originally come to laugh at Zhang Yun, wanting to see if he had just ordered a plate of stir-fried noodles with greens to meet the minimum spend limit. They never expected that his single meal would be better than all of theirs combined!

They had been thoroughly outdone!

Chen Hui was also a bit surprised. Was Zhang Yun really not bragging?

Failing to make a joke out of him and almost becoming the joke themselves, they quickly retreated to their own room.

Zhang Yun ate until almost seven o’clock, then asked the waitress to pack up the remaining dishes. He hadn’t brought his phone, so he needed to go down to the first floor to meet the driver.

Right at that moment, someone burst into the room!

”Zhang Yun, save me!”